Chapter 2

Ms. Rodriguez notices that a large percentage of her students' spelling test scores are low. She wonders if a new individualized spelling approach will improve her second graders' spelling skills. She decides to use a differentiated spelling program that a colleague has shared with her and implements it during the second nine weeks of school. She keeps a record of her students' spelling test scores and talks with each student about their thoughts about the new spelling program. At the end of the nine weeks, she compares the spelling scores of the second nine weeks with the spelling scores of the first nine weeks. She finds that all of the students' scores have increased. She also sees from her conversations with her students that they enjoy the differentiated program and think that they are learning to spell better. She decides to continue the differentiated spelling program for the third nine weeks. What practice is Ms. Rodriguez using?

Action research

In an attempt to find out why 10-year-old Rosemarie has trouble working independently, a teacher aide quietly observes her one day as she works by herself at a "science center" set up in the corner of the classroom. The aide keeps a detailed narrative of what Rosemarie says and does during the 15-minute period she is at the center. Which one of the following observation techniques is the aide using?

An anecdotal record

John Nathan, who grew up in a relatively affluent family and attended private schools, has just accepted a job in a public middle school in a low-income school district. Realizing that his own experiences may not have prepared him to be successful in this setting, John decides to spend time in the neighborhood observing young adolescents as they go about their lives: playing sports, running errands, and just hanging out. He discovers that these youngsters are in some ways very different from, and yet in other ways very similar to, the kids with whom he grew up. John's inquiry most closely resembles which one of the following?

An ethnographic study

Researchers often gain useful information from observation of children and adolescents. Three of the following suggestions are likely to improve the quality of observational data. Which one is unlikely to do so?

Begin data collection almost as soon as you enter the research setting.

A first-time researcher wants to determine whether a new approach to teaching preschool is more effective than older, more traditional approaches. She is thinking that she might use one or more tests as a way of assessing the effectiveness of the new approach. As she reads about the benefits and disadvantages of tests as a means of collecting data, the researcher is most likely to discover that tests:

Can be useful in obtaining information about children's cognitive processes

You read in a professional magazine that the correlation between children's anxiety levels and their general effectiveness in social situations is -.30. You should conclude that:

Children who have low levels of anxiety tend to be more skillful in social situations, but with many children being exceptions to the rule.

A researcher asks a group of 10-year-olds how many hours a week they watch television and what kinds of programs they typically watch. The researcher also gives the children a questionnaire designed to assess their beliefs about gender stereotypes - that is, about what behaviors they believe are "appropriate" for males and females. The researcher then analyzes the data to see if children who have very traditional gender stereotypes (e.g., men are strong and independent, women are weak and dependent) are related to certain television viewing preferences. Which one of the following research designs is the researcher using?

Correlational

A researcher wants to know if children's attitudes about cheating at school change as they get older. To find out, the researcher gives a questionnaire about cheating to 100 fourth graders, 100 seventh graders, and 100 tenth graders. Which one of the following research designs does this study best reflect?

Cross-sectional design

A school nurse wants to know if children's knowledge about nutrition increases over the course of the elementary years. To find out, she gives a test about nutrition to students in the first, third, and fifth grades. She then compares the test scores for the three grade levels. Which one of the following research designs does the nurse's study best reflect?

Cross-sectional design

A number of test items unfairly penalize some individuals because of their language. Which of the following is the best term for this unfair penalty?

Cultural bias

Which of the following situations would not typically need written consent from the participants and their families?

A researcher wants to observe the natural play interactions of children on the playground in a public setting.

Mr. Patton makes a practice of writing short descriptions of his students' significant actions and statements. He usually writes these brief notes at the end of each day. Then, when he conferences with his students' families, he refers to these descriptions to share with the families. Which of the following is Mr. Patton most likely using?

A running record

Imagine that you want to find out which extracurricular activities in a community's after-school programs are of most interest to teenagers. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

A self-report questionnaire

Which one of the following is the best example of action research?

A teacher gives her students a questionnaire that asks them to describe how often they study and what kinds of strategies they use when they study. She will use the results to develop several lessons on effective study skills.

When conducting interviews with children, which practice is not recommended?

Engage in quick question and answer exchanges.

In a longitudinal study, a researcher:

Examines how certain characteristics and behaviors change over time

Dr. Fitz wants to know which of three health programs is most effective in promoting children's physical well-being. With the consent of both the children and their parents, children who regularly attend a community center are randomly assigned to one of three 8-week programs. After the programs have ended, Dr. Fitz assesses the children's general physical well being. Dr. Fitz's study can best be classified as which one of the following?

Experimental

Which one of the following statements about developmental research is true?

Experimental studies enable us to draw conclusions about cause-effect relationships.

Ms. Winston notices that one of the boys in her preschool class is often aggressive toward one particular girl in the class. She occasionally writes down notes about these episodes to share with his parents during a conference. Ms. Winston is engaging in:

Informal assessment

Which one of the following best describes a correlational study?

Investigators look for naturally occurring associations.

A primary difference between action research and other types of research is that action research:

Involves identification and implementation of some new strategy

Which one of the following statements best describes a naturalistic study?

It examines the behavior of people in their day-to-day environments.

Three of the following are typical components of the scientific method in developmental research. Which one is not typical?

Keeping the results and conclusions secret for at least five years

To find out how children's drawing skills improve with age, a researcher asks 50 four-year-olds to "Draw the best picture of a person that you can." In each of the next six years (until the children are ten years old), the researcher asks them once again to draw a picture of a person. The researcher then compares quality and detail of the pictures drawn at various ages. Which one of the following research designs does this study best reflect?

Longitudinal design

A researcher wants to know how children's career aspirations change as they grow older. He asks a group of third graders, "What do you think you might want to be when you grow up?" Every year until they graduate from high school, the researcher contacts these same students and once again asks them about their career plans. The researcher's investigation is an example of a(n):

Longitudinal study

Experimental research requires only one of the following. Which one is an essential component of an experimental study?

Manipulating an aspect of the environment

A major disadvantage of using a standardized achievement test as a summative assessment is that the test:

May not align well with the curriculum

In which one of the following situations does a researcher definitely have a problem with the reliability of a data collection technique?

Ms. Arthur assesses children's overall physical fitness on Monday; she then assesses it the following Monday. Children who perform well one week are not the same ones who perform well the following week.

Mr. Jones, a physical education teacher, notices that some of his students are better basketball players than others. He wonders if having a basketball net at home fosters the development of basketball skills. He gives his students a short survey that asks them if they have a basketball net at home. Sure enough, Mr. Jones finds that the better basketball players are more likely to have a net at home. He concludes that having a basketball net at home facilitates the development of basketball skills. Is his conclusion appropriate?

No, because he didn't conduct an experimental study

Dr. Kim has noticed that many 4-year-olds are very kind and caring toward their younger siblings. She wants to find out if 4-year-olds who are especially kind at home are equally kind and caring with their preschool classmates. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

Observation

Three of the following are important ethical guidelines that teachers and other practitioners should keep in mind when conducting research with children or adolescents. Which one is not recommended?

Practitioners should be ready and willing to draw firm conclusions from the data.

A team of researchers wants to know whether a new crime prevention program is really effective in reducing crime in young adolescents. The researchers find two middle schools, Adams Middle School and Monroe Middle School, which serve similar kinds of students and report similar rates of theft, physical assault, and vandalism. The researchers implement the program at Adams and use Monroe as a control group. Afterwards, they discover that crime has decreased at Adams but not at Monroe. This study is a good example of which type of design?

Quasi-experimental

One of the best ways to reduce the participants' likelihood of giving socially desirable answers is to:

Remind participants they are not being judged and that their answers are confidential

Three of the following statements describe ethical practices in developmental research. Which one does not?

Researchers can publish data about specific participants in local newspapers if the descriptions are flattering ones.

Which one of the following conclusions can be firmly drawn only from an experimental study?

Some drugs administered during pregnancy affect a child's prenatal development.

You read a research article about abstract thinking and academic achievement in a professional journal. The researchers report a correlation of +.65 between the amount of abstract thought students demonstrate and the grade-point-averages they earn. You should conclude that:

Students who think more abstractly are likely to have higher grade-point-averages than their classmates

Dr. Lesgold finds that students in private schools perform better on achievement tests than do students in public schools. Which conclusion can Dr. Lesgold fairly draw?

Students' achievement test scores can be predicted to some extent by the kind of school they attend.

Final exams at the end of a course are an example of:

Summative assessment

A researcher wants to know if young infants notice any differences between classical music and jazz music. Which data collection technique would be most useful for this purpose?

The habituation procedure

Imagine that a researcher finds that, on average, students who weigh more are better athletes. Which one of the following is an appropriate conclusion from this information?

There is a correlation between weight and athletic performance.

In developmental research, the sample is:

Those individuals who are asked to participate and choose to do so

Which one of the following statements best describes a quasi-experimental study?

Treatment and control interventions are administered to pre-existing groups.

One very effective way of gathering information about children and adolescents is simply to talk to them. Three of the following should increase the quantity and quality of information you get when you talk with young people. Which one is not likely to be helpful?

Try to be somewhat aloof so that you come across as an unbiased listener.

Developmental researchers need to be sure that any data collection method they use is actually assessing what it is supposed to assess. In other words, researchers need to be concerned about what aspect of their data-collection techniques?

Validity

Three of the following are important considerations when reading about and evaluating developmental research. Which one is least important?

Whether a researcher is affiliated with a large research university

If we say that a particular data collection method has high reliability, we mean that it:

Yields similar results on different occasions